I would encourage all of you who are sensitive to the music and to their own language, wherever you are, to adapt The Millennium Song.
The backing music, without voice, is available for download.
Some tips for translating and adapting the song to your own language are included below.
Once you have done your translation, there are two possibilities:
- submit the translation to us for possible recording at a later date
- have your version recorded and submit the recording to us for insertion in this web page.
In either case, you should contact us at michael@upf.es, so that we can coordinate your efforts.
THIS MAY BE THE FIRST TRULY GLOBAL SONG IN HISTORY!
TRANSLATION GUIDELINES
The Prelude of Chopin has eight lines, in two groups of four. The way it has been arranged we call the first group of lines Part A, and the second Part B. The arrangement has the following structure:
A classical
B classical
B intimate “MJQ”-style transition
A rock
B rock
– jazz solo
– “choral” transition
B techno finale
Notice that the ending is a bit different, but we decided for technical reasons to make every ending in English, so you need only think about the regular A and B parts.
Each line has four strong accents, and if you listen to the original music (the start of the playback version with music only), you will hear that the rhythm of each line is consistently
DUM – DUM – DUM dee – DUM
Counting 4 beats to the bar, like the two-bar counter at the start of the playback version, this would be:
DUM 2 3 4 DUM 2 3 4 DUM 2 3 dee DUM 2 3 4
For example, the first line of the English version:
TIME – HAS – COME to – CHANGE
It’s just the fifth line in the original that contains four DUM’s without the dee:
DUM – DUM – DUM – DUM
For example in the English version:
TAKE – MY – HAND – FRIEND
but in some of the adaptations this line also has five syllables in a DUM DUM DUM dee DUM rhythm. For example, in the Occitan version
DO – NA – ME la – MAN
Many adaptations have five syllables to the line in a different pattern:
DUM – DUM dee – DUM – DUM
for example, in the Spanish (castellano):
CA – MI na – RE – MOS
and you can even have a six syllable line in a pattern:
DUM – DUM dee – DUM dee – DUM
for example, in the Gallician:
CO – LLE a – MI ña – MAN
but these 6-syllable lines should not be overdone.
Listening to the classical piano version at the start of the playback a few times, with a copy of the words in front of you at the same time, will help you to make a good translation and adaptation.
Finally, as far as content goes, note that the eight lines of the song form four pairs, with the following ideas conveyed in the original song and all translations:
First pair: time is arriving for change and renewal
Second pair: time for putting the past behind and forgiving
Third pair: idea of accompaniment (take my hand / give me your
hand) and going forward together
Fourth pair: the arrival of the new/third/our millenium.